Giant Squid To Be Plastinated

Out of its natural habitat, the giant squid Architeuthis dux is something of a flop. They’re so heavy, they collapse under their own weight. You lose the lovely cylindrical mantle and arms, says Steve O’Shea, squid expert at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. So the Kiwis plan to have the squid plastinated by German anatomist Günther von Hagens.

To research the project, von Hagens visited O’Shea in October to study some much smaller species such as arrow squid. We dissected a number of ‘sacrificial’ squid, says O’Shea.

The plastination process could take up to a year, and the squid will need a rigid framework for support, but O’Shea is confident that von Hagens will be able to display the animals.